


Deck the Halls

by eri_quin



Series: The (Im)Perfect VERSE [1]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, And the Gods are Little Shits, Christmas Crack, Christmas Fluff, Crack Treated Seriously, Dysfunctional Family, Dysfunctional as Hell, F/M, Family Dynamics, Fluff and Crack, Gen, Multi, Older Man/Younger Woman, One Big Cracked Up Happy Stark-Baratheon-Lannister Family, One Big Happy Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:33:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22535530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eri_quin/pseuds/eri_quin
Summary: It's that time of the year. The annual Stark-Baratheon-Lannister family gathering is at hand.For Sansa, this year things are the same and not. Though...maybe a little more not, if some of her interactions are any indications.After all, some of her guy friends are being really strange with her. Maybe it's just the holiday spirit? Then again, she's still cooking with Tywin and snarking with Renly, and maybe she's still awkward around Roose --but that's just been the way of things, right?Where the hell did Oberyn come from though?!(Kicking off this Universe like I should've ages ago)
Relationships: Jaime Lannister & Sansa Stark, Renly Baratheon & Sansa Stark, Roose Bolton/Sansa Stark, Stannis Baratheon/Sansa Stark, Tywin Lannister/Sansa Stark
Series: The (Im)Perfect VERSE [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1621453
Comments: 18
Kudos: 79





	1. Jingle Bells, Joffrey Smells

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy belated Christmas fic XD I didn't manage to finish this during the Hols, and I thought I'd just save this for this year's holidays, but…
> 
> Then I realized I need to get this published, so I can actually get this universe established and start in the spring break portion of this universe for the future (so here's to a chapter a day!) XD So here we are! 
> 
> Welcome to this mess of a universe :D
> 
> Playlist:  
> Jingle Bells (Packing Scene only)  
> Toys, Toys, Toys by Laura Marano

_Madness_. That was all that could describe the scene at the Stark family home.

Well, that and chaos.

Sansa was pretty sure the two were interchangeable however. But then again, in her opinion, she'd always been the most sensible Stark child, and was doing her best to ride the craziness as well as she could.

Which also included the 99 missed calls from Renly, the one Baratheon she was really close to. Honestly, even if he was older than her, he acted younger than her most of the time. Then again, it was holiday time and he always swore up and down to her that his family, his brothers and extended, drove him insane. He had made sure this time of the year that she definitely was coming with her family and provide him with "sane" company.

Unfortunately, the Tyrells were sticking to Highgarden this year, so no Loras for Renly to snuggle with (and help Sansa with Renly) and no Margaery for Sansa to be girly and gossip with. The only upside of that was saving Sansa from the constant bickering of Margaery and Renly (and inevitably Jaime) from who was her best friend.

"Spacing out again?" Arya huffed, leaning against Sansa's doorway.

"Only because I'm trying to escape from the family," she replied back dryly, giving her sister a look.

Arya smirked. "Too bad, Sis. You're stuck with us, no matter what!"

Sansa rolled her eyes. "Please tell me you packed at least _one_ dress. We'll never hear the end of it."

Her shorter sister made a face. "Ugh! Yeah, yeah. I shoved one in my bag…I think. Whatever, it'll pass."

Sansa was skeptical but just let it be. If Arya didn't, she'd just have to disappear from the scene before Catelyn Stark laid into Arya about it. In the meantime, she should finish her own packing before she joined the others.

"Rickon! Stop running naked around the house with Shaggydog!"

Sansa inwardly sighed and yanked her luggage closer to herself.

* * *

A large family (and very much close with each other), Sansa knew the Starks tended to be very different about family, against the other high society families. They didn't mind their closeness nor showing it. They were all really close and they enjoyed being and _acting_ a family.

It was such a shame that families like the Baratheons or Lannisters were much the opposite.

Sansa knew, as she entered the foyer of the Baratheon family home, that the Baratheon brothers were the epitome of dysfunctional, which echoed into Robert Baratheon (her father's best friend and 'uncle' to her and her siblings) own family with Cersei.

And now _that_ woman was a piece of work.

"I'm spacing out," she mumbled to herself, shaking her head. She looked around at her own family though, lingering on Arya for a bit.

No matter what, even if she got along less with certain siblings than others, she wouldn't trade them for anything. She loved them all dearly.

With a soft, fond smile, she leaned forward and tugged Arya's hair harshly.

"Hey!" Arya turned to her indignantly. "Why'd you do that?"

"Payback for flinging some of this morning's breakfast and staining my blouse," Sansa said dryly, giving her a pointed look.

Arya blushed but grinned widely. "Then I got off lucky."

Sansa huffed but kept quiet, not letting her sister know she was still plotting her revenge. It was one of her favorite blouses!

As they were beginning to head further in, the door behind them opened and she turned to see familiar faces. Grinning to herself, she saw the Boltons enter. There was Domeric, Ramsay, and —of course, Roose, her father's other best friend (not that Robert would ever need to know that or would ever acknowledge it) and also one of Stark Industries' employees.

"Roose, good of you to come," her father said solemnly, though a hint of a smile showed through as he came over and grasped Roose's arm and hand in greeting.

"Thank you for the invite," he replied softly. "Are you sure your friend won't mind?"

"No, he won't," Ned Stark said with a conviction that Sansa actually didn't echo —Robert could be kind of weird about her family…Um, just a bit possessive, she supposed.

"Don't know, Dad," Robb said her thoughts aloud. "Uncle Robert is weird about us."

A small smirk flitted across her lips.

At that, Ned looked awkward and coughed. "Right. Well…Glad you and your boys can make it."

"Thanks for inviting us, Mr. Stark," Domeric said politely while Ramsay grinned manically and waved. Ah, the slightly deranged Bolton…who she somehow was friends with.

She still had frequent visions of making the family dogs rush and maul him whenever he drove her crazy.

As the even larger group started to head in, she suddenly locked eyes with Roose, and couldn't help her breath hitching at the intense look in his eyes.

Dear Gods, she'd forgotten how mesmerizing Roose Bolton's marbling gray eyes were.

* * *

Directed to the rooms that they usually stayed in whenever they were there, Sansa had lugged her suitcase after herself quickly to avoid any of the crazy mess that she was hoping to avoid that might've started already. Only Robert had come to greet them boisterously (eying Roose with a narrowed glare that she worried at).

She'd just gone into her room and had pulled in her luggage, when her door opened again and Renly appeared in the flesh, grinning in relief.

"Darling! You're home!" he said exaggeratedly, before grabbing her hand and speeding out of there.

Sansa pressed her lips tightly closed. To warn off a smile or frown, she wasn't sure. Renly could be a force of nature when he wanted to be, and of course as soon as she had tried to settle down in her room, he'd suddenly appear and basically kidnapped her.

"Renly! My arm hurts!" she protested, a slight pout forming.

He immediately let go and looked chagrined, his handsome face looking apologetic.

"Sorry, Sans. I'm just excited you're here. Finally, some _sane_ and _wanted_ company," Renly said with a wink, but Sansa caught the glimpse of bitterness and annoyance her best friend had when it came to his brothers and 'extended' family.

"Christmas will be over soon enough, and then you'll see Loras," she promised and Renly cracked a smile.

"We'll get to see him in a few minutes," he revealed to her. "But I'll get to be with him after Christmas. We were thinking of spending New Year's in maybe Sunspear or Lysene. Want to come with us?"

"I've got no plans," she thought about it. "If you two don't mind me crashing your duo."

"Babe, you and me are a bad love song you can't get rid of," he snickered. "Or rather that Loras can't get rid of."

Sansa giggled and rolled her eyes, and relented to being pulled into Renly's room once they had reached it. The way too extravagant suite made her feel almost out of place, before it was pushed out of mind when Renly brought her to his bed and snatched up his laptop. Making herself comfortable on it and beside Renly as he set up the video call, she waited patiently until Loras appeared on the screen.

The effeminate, pretty man (whose looks still made Sansa swoon sometimes) smiled brightly at them.

"My two favorite people in the world! Merry Christmas, my daffodils! How're things?"

"Sansa just came, thank the Gods," Renly started first, tossing her a playful air kiss. "I've been driven absolutely mad here by myself until now. Since Sansa's finally here, I'll tell the both of you the absolute insanity that I've had to endure. You two should be proud of me."

"Absolutely, baby," Loras soothed while Sansa just raised an eyebrow, lips upturned slightly.

"Okay, so when I arrived, dreadful Joffrey was the first to see me and made the usual stupid comment about my fabulous gayness. Something stupid like 'how was my bum?' or something incredibly inappropriate like that. Ugh, that brat needs boot camp!" Renly sneered.

"I don't think even boot camp could straighten him out," Sansa wrinkled her nose.

"Tch! Tell me about it," Renly grumbled. "Anyway, I got myself settled and then I had to sit through dinner with Robert's family. Seven Hells, that was a nightmare! Cersei and Robert wouldn't stop sniping at each other for a second, and if by miracle they did, it was only to see who could drink the most! Joffrey joined in on the excessive drinking and poor Tommen and Myrcella sort of awkwardly sat there, tried to finish their plates as soon as possible, before looking at me in apology and abandoning me at the table to hide out somewhere!"

Sansa patted his back comfortingly while Loras did his best to soothe him through the screen.

"And then hell continued when _both_ Stannis and Tywin arrived the next day! I'm just glad they didn't arrive at the same time, but still! Stannis was his usual grumpy self, but Shireen was _her_ usual bright and sweet self. Oh! Looks like she's been practicing the hairstyles you and me taught her to hide those unfortunate ears of hers," he directed to Sansa.

Sansa remembered, knowing how self-conscious Shireen could be, mostly due to her face and her ears. She remembered last time how she and Renly had taken her aside to help her do something to cheer her up and help her out a little with at least her ears. Sansa didn't think it was a big deal, even though she knew that Shireen was probably never going to be the prettiest girl. But she _did_ know how not having any confidence in one self had a lot to do with how one saw themselves, and she didn't want Shireen to feel horrible about herself.

She just had to drum up some confidence in herself and ignore the idiots around her!

"Maybe we can experiment a little with makeup and help her hide her scars," Sansa brought up.

"Oooh, good idea," Renly nodded. "Someone has to make her feel pretty and confident in herself. The Gods know Selyse and Stannis aren't doing anything."

"Yeah, though beauty isn't everything, Ren," she reminded him, though between Loras and Renly, the two men were insufferably picky and focused on looks.

Renly waved her off. "Yes, yes, I know. But I'm sure Shireen would like to at least find a way to get the focus off of those features and we can build up that confidence of hers in the meantime. Plus, she gets to be pampered and treated like a princess. Who doesn't want to feel like a princess?"

"I'll try to mix up color samples so match Shireen's skin tone," Loras told them. "When I'm done, I'll send you guys those samples so you can try out the makeup on Shireen's skin."

"Thanks, my flower prince," Renly playfully batted his eyelashes at his boyfriend.

"I have to go," Loras told them regretfully. "Otherwise I'd love to spend all night talking with you two."

"Aww," Sansa gave him an exaggerated pout. "We'll miss you too, Loras! Tell Margaery I said hi!"

"Bye, my daffodils! I'll tell Marge, but you know she'll be furious she missed you, Sansa," Loras gave them a 'yikes' look before waving and logging off.

Sansa moved to get off the bed when Renly's hand shot out to grab her wrist.

"Don't go yet," Renly's shoulders slumped. "Please stay a bit?"

She gave a soft smile. "Oh, alright. But don't hog the bed, Ren!"

"It's King! Plenty of damn room, Firecracker!"

Started 12/19/19 – Completed 12/25/19

**Omake!**

"Well…it's not perfect."

"Better than before —all blood and guts, fighting, and human idiocy!"

"I rather _liked_ the blood and guts and fighting."

"The human idiocy was kind of funny too."

"Never mind all that! At least we've got another do-over and we can keep our favorites on the table."

"Ramsay's never been a favorite though."

"…Hm, we _did_ try to fix that mess."

"He's better than before?"

"He's still got a few screws loose."

"I _did_ say this world wasn't perfect…"

Started 2/2/20 – Completed 2/2/20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick Points:
> 
> 1\. Current GoT Fics: Her Song of Fire and Ice (SansaxRoose/Stannis/Tywin), A Red King Bowed (Roose/Sansa), March to My Heartbeat (Stannis/Sansa), and Deck the Halls today, to get started on that 'verse~


	2. Winter Wonderland (Maybe Not So Wonder)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Playlist:  
> Everybody Loves Christmas by Laura Marano  
> Strange and Beautiful by Aqualung (End Scene)

Renly's hair was in her face and she had to wiggle away. Gods, her best friend had a vice grip in his sleep. She pitied Loras if Renly was like this every time they slept together.

_She_ hadn't even gotten to really settle into her room last night!

No, instead she and Renly had stayed in bed, watching TikTok and music videos on YouTube, and then scouring the web for stupid memes. Eventually, they'd both fallen asleep and now she was desperately trying to escape a snoring Renly's hold.

Once she finally extricated herself from him, she padded over to her room and realized it wasn't too far away from Renly's —something she'd somehow not noted before. Seeing it was still early, she unpacked her things and then took a quick shower and brush of her teeth. She had just brushed her hair on her way down, when she entered the kitchen to good smells.

If her mouth unwittingly moved into the hugest grin she'd had so far there at the Baratheon home, it's only because seeing Tywin Lannister in the kitchen made her wholeheartedly, genuinely happy.

"Hey you," Sansa didn't bother smothering her grin.

He turned from the stove slightly, glancing at her. "Good morning," he returned wryly. "Eggs?"

"Fried or scrambled?"

He tilted his head towards the pan. "I was working on scrambled, but I know you have a preference for sunny side up."

"Scrambled is fine," Sansa waved him off, already rolling her sleeves up and finding the bread, preparing the toaster oven. "Jam or butter?"

"The pomegranate jam, if you will."

She made a 'hmm' noise and began laying out the bread to toast before rummaging in the fridge for the jam. "Do we have all the things we need to cook for the dinner?"

"We do," Tywin confirmed, eying the eggs and deeming them ready. "When would you like to start?"

"Early as possible," Sansa took out the toast and began spreading jam on two of the slices. "Easier to take control of the kitchen then too."

She saw Jaime and Tyrion enter then, both smelling the air and licking their lips. Following behind them was Cersei, who looked hung over and was wearing large sunglasses that hid her eyes (she'd guess they were bloodshot and the morning light was killer on them).

"I have let my children know they are to not enter the kitchen then," Tywin said as if said children were not there in person.

"Are we banned from the kitchen again?" Tyrion asked goodnaturedly, ignored by his father. Sansa shot him an apologetic smile.

Jaime gave a mock pout. "I want to cook with you two!"

"You can't even boil water, Jaime," Tyrion snarked. "Last time you 'helped' was the first and only time, and you somehow _burned_ water."

"I would like to be part of it," Cersei sneered irritably, straightening her posture. "Why can't I help you two out?"

Sansa looked away, but the other three Lannisters (even Tywin) winced and avoided Cersei's glare.

"You can't cook," Tyrion said bluntly.

An image of the year Cersei had 'volunteered' to help the Christmas Eve dinner flashed through their heads, remembering dark smoke and _fire_ , and a demolished stove.

"You were even worse than me," Jaime muttered.

Cersei directed her glare full on at her twin.

"And I?" Tyrion snorted and shook his head. "I was no help —I mostly got in the way and drank most of your cooking wine."

"Hence, _none of my children are allowed in the kitchen_ ," he gave them a pointed glare.

Sansa pressed her lips together tightly, trying not to laugh. Honestly though, it was a horror to let them into the kitchen.

It was much, much better to keep the kitchen to herself and Tywin when it came to the cooking.

Food was quickly made for the rest of the Lannisters, before she finished up before them and went to wash her plate and utensils, and then some of the other dishes that had been used while cooking had been done. Jaime sidled up next to her, helping her out.

"So last night I didn't get to see you," he griped quietly, giving her a knowing look.

"You weren't there to greet me," she replied with a roll of her eyes.

"But I went to see you in your room," she could almost say he was pouting.

"I was keeping Renly company," she admitted outright.

Jaime was definitely pouting now. "Don't forget your _other_ best friend. You know, your _actual_ best friend."

Sansa refrained from slapping her wet hands against her face…

…Or throwing the plate she was reaching for at a grumpy (and yet smug?) face of Jaime Lannister.

* * *

After breakfast, Sansa made herself scarce, determined to disappear and continue to avoid everyone. She wanted a calmer year than before, where _nothing_ had been calm. In fact, Sansa had suffered utter agony each year with her dysfunctional family. Maybe she was being a bit of a Grinch, but still…At least she was participating in the public gala the shared families were throwing that night!

Sansa took out [her gown](https://www.sohogirl.com/elizabeth-k-gl2655-illusion-sweetheart-open-back-dress-in-black-gold.html), giving it a look over with a pleased and proud look. She had made it herself, taking great care and patience with it. The resulting gown that had come from her own hands made her rather emotional, knowing her hard work had created something she was proud to have made and to wear.

She'd made the gown with a halter top that was heavy with golden flowery designs, a backdrop of black that was more pronounced around the upper sides of the halter top while also framing a sweetheart neckline that would just give a slight cleavage she'd get away with (without giving her father a heart attack). It connected to a slightly full illusion skirt that flared out with the same black and gold design, a sheer fabric layer of chiffon to give it a 'floating' look.

She'd wanted to make a knockout dress and she was sure this one was!

A knock on her door interrupted her giggly admiration of her creation, and when she went over to see who it was, she grinned at Renly and pulled him in so she could show off her dress.

He whistled loudly. "Good work, Sansa. It looks fabulous." He suddenly smirked. "But it will _definitely_ match what I came here to hand over."

Renly dug a hand into a pocket and then pulled something out, holding a hand out to her and opening it, revealing a pair of gorgeous [earrings](https://www.mjewelry.com/skmk3143-120-konstantino-sterling-silver-18k-yellow-black-gold-onyx-earrings) she gasped at.

"Since you're wearing Baratheon colors, I think it's fitting you wear some Baratheon heirlooms," he told her gently, still holding his palm out.

She gave him a confused look and he elaborated.

"These were my mother's," he told her. "I wanted to give them to you as an early Christmas gift."

"What? You can't!" Sansa protested, knowing how important his mother was to him. "They belonged to your mother!"

"And they need a pretty lady to wear them," Renly pointed out. "Seeing as I'm not a woman, nor is Loras, I hardly need them and we don't wear earrings in any case. And I would very much like to gift them to someone important to me. So here." He took one and took off the back clasp, holding it out.

Touched but still hesitant, she turned her head and allowed him to carefully slip the earring into her pierced lobe and waited for him to put the backing on. He did the same to the other side and then pulled back, nodding in satisfaction.

"There," he said pleased. "Now your look is complete!"

She gave him an affectionate smile and when he held out his arms, she didn't hesitate to step into them and hug him back.

He pulled back a little after, grinning softly. "So why don't we take our time heading over, let them all into the gala first and make our late, fashionable entry?"

"Yes, let's," Sansa smiled happily at him.

* * *

After parting with Renly, who grumpily headed over to Robert, she walked around aimlessly. She also continued to avoid her family mulishly (and the Lannisters, since she'd already had Jaime complaining about her wearing 'Baratheon colors' that breakfast after she'd let slip about her gown —it had been a complete accidental choice of colors, and instead made them start prodding her into wearing 'correct' family colors…like red and gold).

After another comment on her earrings and dress from another attendee, she plied herself away and looked around. To her detriment, she spotted Joffrey coming over, a sickly sweet smile on his wormy lips.

Taking a step back, she looked around again, this time trying to find a way to escape. Someone stepped into her view, a man's broad chest blocking her eyesight. Looking up slightly, she saw Roose there and he held his hand out, palm facing upwards.

"May I have this dance?" he asked softly and she took it, both dazed at the request and who it was from, and relieved to have a reason to avoid Joffrey.

He pulled her in closer and placed a hand respectfully on her waist and held the other, moving into a slow sway that she relaxed into. His large hands were warm against her.

"Thanks for the save, Roose," she gave him a small grin.

"You are welcome, Sansa," he dipped his head slightly. "I should say I am just a bit better company than the Blond Overlord."

She blinked and then nearly fell out of hold with him with the eruption of giggles. "Oh Gods, you've definitely been around Robb and Jon too much if now _you're_ starting to call Joffrey that."

"He's a prick with a complex," Roose deadpanned remorselessly.

It made Sansa want to break out into another fit of giggles.

But then after she straightened up, he gave a slight tug and she found herself closer to him. She sucked in a breath and felt her cheeks warm, and she regretfully thought that this was not the first time Roose Bolton had made her weak in the knees.

Looking up into Roose's face, their eyes connected and she bit her lip, probably imagining the slight dart of his eyes to it.

Dancing with Roose mightn't of been such a good idea after all.

Not when he had a terrible habit of making her heart feel like it was having a heart attack or like there was something wrong with her knees.

Roose had always been such a strange, strange man and made many a people uncomfortable and creeped out, but he'd always been rather beautiful to her.

He gave a quirk up to his lips that made her smile sadly in return, concern briefly appearing in his marbled gray eyes. The song ended and she let herself step away from him, his lips pressing tight together.

In her peripherals, she saw Joffrey coming over again and she mumbled a curse. Roose turned unnoticeably and frowned.

"Go on," he told her in his soft voice. "I'll take care of him while you make your exit."

She reached out hesitantly and squeezed his arm thankfully, and slipped into the crowd, disappearing into it without a trace.

Started 12/25/19 – Completed 1/3/20

**Omake! II**

"I'm not making popcorn this time."

"Well _someone_ has to. And you're the one who makes things."

"Be more useful than get into fights all the time!"

"If we're going to enjoy this dramafest, we do need some popcorn."

"Oh alright, I've got the popcorn this time!"

"…Do we have any alcohol to go with that?"

Started 2/2/20 – Completed 2/2/20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonna keep on updating a chapter a day~
> 
> Quick Points:
> 
> 1\. Current GoT Fics: Her Song of Fire and Ice (SansaxRoose/Stannis/Tywin), A Red King Bowed (Roose/Sansa), and March to My Heartbeat (Stannis/Sansa). Also Deck the Halls, to get started on that ‘verse~


	3. Sleigh Ride (Through Hell)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Playlist:  
> Stressed Out by Twenty One Pilots  
> Santa Maria (Del Buen Ayre) by Gotan Project

Honestly, even after a year had passed, she was still pretty ticked off at Joffrey. She no longer had feelings for him, but that didn't mean she wasn't still hurt and nursing old wounds from his callous treatment of her.

She'd been a foolish, stupid girl that had been too blinded by an irrational crush on him. And she'd paid for it too.

There was no way she was letting herself be put back into the path of hurt again.

Relieved to find the Baratheon library door, she opened it and ducked into the library, eager to escape from the determined harassment of Joffrey.

But as she closed the door behind her, she paused and her eyebrows flew up. That…that was Twenty One Pilots playing in here!

Realizing she wasn't alone in there, but utterly curious as to who would retreat in here to escape the gala (and be listening to this band), she quietly crept further in.

" _I wish I found some better sounds no one's ever heard  
I wish I had a better voice that sang some better words  
I wish I found some chords in an order that is new  
I wish I didn't have to rhyme every time I sang  
_ _I was told when I get older all my fears would shrink  
But now I'm insecure and I care what people think~"_

Peeking around a bookcase, she muffled her gasp. There was Renly's older brother, the one who both he and Robert had always complained about being too strict and stern with them all the time.

Curious about him, especially as she hadn't actually had much interaction with him recently (not since she was a kid to be honest) and only having what she had to go on from Renly and Robert (both of whom are _not_ reliable sources on most things), Sansa ended up doing her own observation.

Head tilted back on the couch, tie loosened up and eyes closed, he looked relaxed and with a hand loosely holding onto a glass of water, slice of lemon floating above the liquid.

Stannis Baratheon, from what she heard, was an 'uptight, no-nonsense, boring man'. She heard several different variations of that over the years from both Renly and Robert, but right now, all she saw was a relaxed and…a rather handsome man.

He wasn't handsome in the same way Renly was, or even Robert in his younger years. But…there was a sort of masculine edge to him, even as he sat languid on the couch. He was also all sharp angles and vague sense of intensity Renly had warned her about, even in his relaxed pose.

He was dressed smartly too. Fitted, tailored navy blue suit, with the matching lighter blue tie —he certainly knew how to wear his clothes.

Suddenly, his eyes snapped open and she was treated to stormy blue eyes that matched him more than it ever did on Renly or Robert.

He sat up quickly and her face flushed a bright red.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Baratheon," she rushed to apologize. "I was trying to avoid —"

"Joffrey," he finished for her, voice oddly breathless, and she stared at him in surprise, though the sound of his voice was surprising lovely and made her shiver. "My brothers have talked of it with me, so I…know somewhat of the situation," he ended awkwardly. "I suppose if there was someone you'd try to avoid here, it would've been him."

"You're right, Mr. Baratheon," she admitted, feeling awkward being there with him and talking about her ex-relationship with his nephew. "Though I'm surprised Renly and Uncle Robert talked about it."

He waved her off. "They care about you, it's natural. And…" He frowned, looking at her with those intense eyes. What was it with men always looking at her intensely?! Roose did this too! "Stannis is fine. As you call Robert 'uncle' and Renly as is, I suppose you should address me informally as well. I wouldn't want to be the 'stiff' brother," he ended wryly.

She gave a crooked smile. "They may say you are, but obviously you aren't…Stannis," her smile turned into a larger grin.

His lips upturned into a small smile. Stannis then tapped a single finger on the cushion of the couch next to him and she took it as an invitation, coming over and sitting down next to him.

"I didn't peg you as a Twenty One Pilots fan," she said shyly.

His small smile twitched up a little more. "Looks can be deceiving," he said in a dry tone.

"They certainly can be!" she said brightly, finding that she was enjoying being around the one Baratheon brother she had never really talked to much before. He was certainly surprising her more and more.

"Shireen, my daughter, introduced them to me," he confessed, catching her off guard. "She's not their biggest fan, but she liked a few songs from them and I ended up hearing a few I liked myself."

Pleased he'd shared something personal about himself, she brought up her own favorite songs of them while thinking about Shireen.

She'd really liked the other girl and she knew Renly dotted on her, as did occasionally Robert. She'd never actually focused on thinking about Stannis as Shireen's father, aside from some snide comments from Stannis' brothers, since before now she'd never run across him so personally before. It had always been Renly and Robert she knew best.

Her eyes scanned the table and caught sight of the crossword that was displayed on the folded newspaper.

"Oh! Were you doing the crossword?" she asked in delight.

He gave a glance over at the newspaper and nodded. "I'd taken some time with it earlier. Would you like to finish it?"

Sansa just smiled as widely as she could at him while snatching it up. He smoothly unclipped a pen from his front pocket she hadn't noticed, and then handed it over to her. Happily accepting it, she smoothed out the paper and looked it over.

"Yeet!" she exclaimed gleefully, causing him to give her a strange look. In return, she gave him a sheepish one. "This one talks about a slang term. That was the answer."

"I…see."

Forcing back her giggling, she went back to the crossword. He leaned in closer to her and he pointed to one clue and then to the corresponding spaces. "Abscond."

She filled it in and idly noted the warmth of his body, especially the longer he was closer to her and the more that he leaned in. He smelled really nice. She couldn't put a finger on it, but it smelled really familiar…

His close proximity did make her start to feel self-conscious, but then she figured out another clue and excitedly filled it in. And it went back and forth like that, even with them sitting side by side, their legs brushed up against each other and his arm ending up around her on the back of the couch, the both of them scrunched up close to look over the crossword together.

And…and he smiled.

Nothing huge or just outright grinning, but his small smile ticked up ever so slightly as time passed and they enjoyed solving clues together, with the corners of his eyes crinkling in enjoyment rather than frowns.

"Looks like it's finished," he said once she'd written the last answer down. He glanced to the side before addressing her. "Do you play chess?"

"I do," she answered eagerly, looking to see that he'd glanced at a chess set put aside.

He got up and retrieved the chess set, setting it on the table and resuming his seat next to her.

"White or black?" Stannis asked and she requested white.

After setting up their pieces, she placed a pawn forward and waited. Instead of answering with his own pawn, he took a knight and moved it over his pawns and into the end of an L shape.

She looked at him, admired the look of concentration on his face, and found herself blurting out, "I'm going to beat you!" She swore it.

His stormy blues flickered up at her and his lips ticked up again.

"I give you leave to try."

It left her grinning and determined.

* * *

She didn't know how long time passed, but they'd been going back and forth for awhile when a double clearing of throats caused the both of them to startle and look over to the source of the noises. There she saw Jaime and Renly standing next to each other, surprising her since she knew that the two didn't get along and tended to argue on which of them was her "One True Best Friend".

"There you are, Sansa," Renly said cheerfully (maybe a little too cheerful?), his smile weirdly stiff. "We've been looking for you. You too, Stan —Robert's been wondering where you've gone to."

"And now that we've found you, let's drag you back out there, Sansa," Jaime kept frowning, further weirding her out.

"O…kay," she got up unsurely. "We'll have to continue later," she gave a small smile to Stannis before heading over to her two friends.

She suddenly had a thought and practically flounced back over to Stannis, taking the cell phone the man had placed abandoned on the table. She put her number in before handing it to a clearly taken aback Stannis, and then impulsively leaning up on the tip of her toes to land a chaste kiss to his cheek.

"Bye!" she said before rejoining Renly and Jaime, missing twin looks of dismay before one looked thunderous and then the other curling his lip in an irritable sneer.

Stannis did not.

* * *

Renly wished he had some earplugs on hand. Honestly, Robert could complain someone's ears off for hours! And he'd lost track of Sansa, so he couldn't just go after her and spend the rest of the gala with her. He totally regretted leaving her side, even for a moment.

Where was she anyway?

Last he'd seen her, she'd been dancing with Bolton —who gave him the shivers, really. Man's eyes were too creepy and his face was hard to read most of the time! How the heck did the Starks deal with him? Hells, how could Sansa even stand being around the guy?

"By the Gods, this is boring as all the Hells!" Robert bellowed. "I hate going around, talking business. Where's Stannis when you need him? He's supposed to do all this smoozing!"

' _Stannis hates all that too,'_ Renly mused. _'He can't stand people sucking up to him and he can't be any more charming than a lobster, as Loras would say. He's just better at business and talking that up, even if it's brusque. I'm more charming, but I don't fucking have a head for business. You, Robert? Used to be charming as hell and actually wasn't too bad at this business thing either. But you've always been impatient and never cared for it.'_

So yeah, Renly admitted he and Robert did put Stannis through a lot of shit. But he was a pain in the ass himself. Always with the high and mighty attitude, always in the right, always thinking about things owed to _him_. And he was always so boring and strict, always lecturing Renly on this and that. Goddamn so uptight he wouldn't do anything but work and probably didn't like anything but it!

Being the third and youngest brother had always sucked. Growing up with Robert and Stannis meant that his things were never his things, and most of the time they weren't even his first. They had money, but the three brothers were possessive and always arguing over things anyway. Growing up, they hadn't really changed much, not when it came to their relationship with each other and how they treated the other brother.

Sansa had always been the real first person who'd gotten him, been the one 'thing' his brothers did not have that Renly could just call for himself.

Robert being 'uncle' to her didn't even count. Sansa and Renly were best friends and had shared almost everything they could. As far as he was concerned, their relationship was special and she was more family to him than his own brothers.

"I'll go find Stannis," Renly volunteered, eager to get away from Robert. Cersei was looking pretty murderous beside him too, and he hoped that the rest of the 'group' came together soon. Maybe Ned would come and distract Robert, while Renly went and found Sansa. Stannis, he meant. Right, Stannis.

Leaving his oldest brother behind, he went wandering around before bumping into Jaime. They sneered at each other.

"What are you doing, Lannister?" Renly scowled.

"Looking for Sansa," Jaime said, smirking arrogantly.

"There's no need to," he said loftily. "I'm doing that already. As her best friend, I want to make sure she's okay."

"As her real best friend, I should do that."

They glared heatedly at each other.

"Whatever," Renly turned away, walking towards the library. "I don't need to deal with you."

"Hey, where are you going?" Jaime yelled.

"Away from you and finding Sansa," he said resolutely.

He opened the door to the library, pausing at the entrance as he heard music playing. Ignoring Jaime, who had followed him, he walked further in and felt his blood boiling at the sight.

Stannis, stupid, stupid _Stannis_ was right in Sansa's space, looking godsdamn utterly _smitten_.

The Hells Renly was going to share Sansa with anyone, much less Stannis! Robert was a given, unfortunately, but he wasn't going to add freaking Stannis to the list!

Sansa was _his_ and he wasn't going to let Robert and especially _Stannis_ take her from him!

Renly moved forward to cut their little moment (Gods, why was Sansa _smiling_ at his jerk brother?).

"There you are, Sansa!"

* * *

Sansa admitted she felt confused at the grumpiness of her two best friends beside her, both of whom were escorting her towards the gathered bunch of their families in their designated spot. The gala was in full swing, so everyone else was having a good time, though they gave a wide berth to the Stark-Baratheon-Lannister brood.

They reached the others quickly enough, though she caught a glimpse of Stannis following at a small distance behind them. As she turned to question her strange as hell friends, her shoulder was tapped lightly and she turned again in confusion.

"May I have this dance, Love?"

Oberyn Martell held out his hand to Sansa and she couldn't help laughing delightedly, elated to have run into the Dornishman once more.

"You're a rogue," she accused him teasingly, trying to bite back a smile.

"At your service," he purred rather seductively, making her blush.

"Honestly," she huffed, shaking her head. Still, she accepted his hand and let him lead her to the dance floor.

"I was quite jealous, Sansa love," he smirked. "You're surrounded by all these men and earlier you were dancing over and over with so many of them!"

"Hardly," she said in amusement. "Just Roose and it was to help me escape from Joffrey."

His lip curled just a bit. "Of course, that boy. Well, I can run away with you whenever you want! And then you could not deal with him for the rest of your life."

She giggled and went into the twirl he moved her into.

* * *

Jon sipped at his iced tea, fighting back a grin as he saw _the_ Oberyn Martell twirl his sister (cousin, but eh —who was really being specific?). They _all_ knew about Spring Break and never stopped harassing Sansa about it.

She was doomed to be teased about it forever.

After all, who knew she'd meet the infamous, womanizing fashion designer in the Summer Isles for Spring Break, and apparently 'have a good time of it'?

Yeah, she was never going to hear the end of it.

"Seven Hells!" he heard Jaime explode from near him and he turned to see the blond man glaring over at the dancing couple, where Oberyn had grabbed Sansa's hips and had slipped behind her and had danced too close for 'family comfort'. "That bastard needs to keep his hands to himself!"

Jon kept from snickering, but only just. Jaime's anger was pretty much echoed through the usual —Renly, who was adamant he was _the_ Best Friend, Tywin with his cold, dark stare that pretty much scared the shit out of everyone but Sansa, and the Boltons. Domeric and Ramsay were rowdy booers (well, Domeric was more polite and quiet, alike to his father), while Roose…

He and his siblings weren't unaware of the UST between him and their sister, for all that the two seemed to not say or do anything about it.

So it wasn't unexpected, not really, to see the man with murderous eyes that said he was more than willing to gut Oberyn and hide the body somewhere.

"I can't believe the two of you aren't more outraged about that scoundrel being so inappropriate with Sansa!" Robert bellowed, narrowing his eyes at Catelyn and Ned.

Jon choked on his drink. The-the _irony_ and _hypocrisy_ …

Then again, when it came to Myrcella and Sansa…Well, his daughter and goddaughter were where he apparently drew the line.

Ned just raised an eyebrow at him, taking a sip of his red wine.

"It's quite alright, Robert," he told his friend. "Sansa met Martell during last year's Spring Break and told us about him."

While Robert's face turned red, anger mixing with confusion, Jon saw Renly and Jaime also perk up at that. He studiously ignored the tilt of Tywin's head towards Ned, emerald eyes side-eying his uncle intently; or even Roose stiffening up and staring at Ned without seemingly breathing.

"Spring Break?" Renly asked, sounding horrified, while Jaime looked confused.

"Oh yeah, Sansa went to the Summer Isles for Spring Break and ran into him," Robb grinned.

Arya snickered. "Yeah and apparently got it on with the man!"

Jon interjected. "You mean 'got along.'"

She waved him off. "Nah —I mean that too, but we all know those two did the horizontal tango in bed!"

Jon paid no mind to the sounds of strangled outrage around him, sure that aside from the Starks (and Myrcella, Tommen, and Shireen, who he could see were giggling together with Rickon and Bran; Joffrey was by himself and no one was bothering to listen to his vitriol, not even his mother who had been steadily drinking the night away), everyone else was strangely outraged.

"I told you I should have gone on Spring Break!" Renly hissed furiously at Robert and Stannis, who Jon just noticed looked oddly quiet and subdued for the normally dour-looking man. "Godsdammit, _I knew it_!"

"I didn't even know she was going to the Summer Isles for Spring Break," Jaime grumbled.

Really, why did his sister attract the weirdoes?

The song finally ended and he gave a sigh of relief when Oberyn led Sansa back to them. But before they could reach them, _Tywin_ stepped away from the group and headed over to them, interrupting the duo and saying something. Then Oberyn was looking surprised and transferring Sansa over to Tywin, who led his caught off guard sister back onto the dance floor.

Well, Gods, who'd expected that?

* * *

Sana bit down on her lip to stop herself from laughing.

"Eager to steal the show?" she asked in amusement.

"Why not? Everyone else is making a splash —I'm doubtlessly the only one who feels the need to show off," Tywin said sarcastically, emerald eyes glittering at her. "It would hardly be fair for Martell to steal all of your attention, M'dear."

She felt her cheeks faintly warm up, but they worsened as Tywin pulled her in close, bending her leg around his hip.

"I know it's been awhile since we've done a few ballroom competitions, but surely you haven't forgotten how to dance with me?" he raised an eyebrow.

She blinked before a smirk slowly appeared on her lips.

" _Absolutely not_."

And Sansa straightened her spine, ready to perform a proper Argentine Tango.

Though honestly! When she returned back with Tywin, she really didn't understand what the fuss was about and why there was such an outrage. If she had to hear Robert yell "Improper!" at her and Tywin again, she was going to lock herself up for the rest of the holidays!

At least, in this, her family was pretty chill and not chaotic as usual.

Godsdammit though, why in the Seven Hells were Renly and Jaime being so weird?

Started 1/3/20 – Completed 1/7/20

**Omake! III**

"I'm going to bet that Stannis moves in first."

"Oooh, let's bet!"

"I don't know —Stannis is rather repressive, don't you think?"

"Man's desperate."

"You can't say that!"

"Pfft —He was totally gone from the moment he first saw her."

"…I'm not going to argue against that…"

"Oberyn already made the first move, hahaha!"

"Oh, too true. That rogue."

"Mmhm, that rogue."

A pause.

"Stannis is next then."

Started 2/5/20 – Completed 2/5/20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops, I skipped a day? Oh well, you all get a longer than usual chapter, for those of you actually reading and care XD
> 
> Quick Points:
> 
> 1\. Current GoT Fics: Her Song of Fire and Ice (SansaxRoose/Stannis/Tywin), A Red King Bowed (Roose/Sansa), and March to My Heartbeat (Stannis/Sansa). Also Deck the Halls, to get started on that 'verse~
> 
> 2\. Stannis is a Twenty One Pilots fan. You can't change my mind ;p (That Stansa scene in the library is part of why I made this fic, with the Roosa dance earlier being another. Next chapter with TySan is another scene, and all three are basically headcanons~)
> 
> 3\. Oberyn and Sansa, Spring Break also another headcanon XD No, Sansa, it'll never be forgotten and never not be teased about.


	4. It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (Please Gods)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Playlist:  
> Lover by Taylor Swift  
> 99 by Barns Courtney (end, dinner)

The alarm kept going on and on until Sansa finally opened her eyes to shut off her alarm on her phone and glance at the time.

5 am on the dot.

Pushing herself to get up, she dragged herself out of bed and headed to the room's attached bathroom. She didn't dally in there, taking a quick shower and then putting on plain jeans and a normal t-shirt. She was getting ready to cook and hardly thought it would be a good time to dress up when she was likely to get dirty.

Once she was clean and presentable, she headed to the kitchen. There, remembering what she and Tywin had planned to cook, she took out the necessary pots and pans, and then began gathering up the ingredients. She prepped a bit, cutting some of the greens and onions, though she didn't finish off everything.

She had just taken out the heavy as hell turkey from the huge refrigerator, and moved to take on the just as heavy ham, when a hand landed on her shoulder.

"I've got that," Tywin's familiar voice rolled over her and she turned her head to look over her shoulder at him, offering a grin.

"Morning, you!"

"Good morning," he nodded, acknowledging her. "Now step aside."

She moved away and let Tywin grab the ham, transferring it to a space near the turkey but with enough room between the two.

"Let's start with the ham and turkey first, since they'll probably take a long time," she suggested.

"Once they're done being set up, we'll just need to put them in the oven and let them cook," he agreed. "They can be left alone with just an eye on them, while we focus on the other dishes."

And so they got to work, Tywin briefly moving to turn on the radio in the kitchen to play music as they moved along.

They started on the turkey first and when they went to truss it (Tywin insisting it was necessary, if only for appearance), he held up the legs and she used the twine to tie them together. After that, they worked on the ham, glazing it with a brown sugar glaze Tywin had whipped up the day before and then used pineapple slices and juice to finish off the ham, putting both into ovens to start cooking.

"What soup are we making this year?" Sansa asked curiously.

"Toscana," Tywin replied. "Thank you for chopping the onions and crushing the garlic already."

"We always use onions and garlic, so I thought they'd be a sure thing," she smiled brightly. "What else do we need?"

"Kale, baby potatoes and ground sausage," he was already separating the ingredients she'd pulled out that they needed.

She accepted the kale and potatoes, rinsing them off before cutting up the kale finely and then the baby potatoes in half, while Tywin sauteed the sausage, garlic and onions together and then adding evaporated milk and water to start in on creating the broth. She then began working on the seasoning mix they were going to use for the steaks.

He scooped a spoon to capture some broth and blew on it lightly and then held it up to her.

"Here, taste," he said and she leaned up a bit to take in the mouthful.

She licked her lips. "I like it, though maybe a tinge more chicken bouillon."

She pinched a bit and sprinkled into the broth, where he stirred it and then tasted it, nodding in satisfaction.

"Yes, much better," he agreed.

"Ah, taste the seasoning," Sansa said and he pinched some of it to place on his tongue and savored it.

"I'm partial to a bit more spice, though I know Robert can't handle the heat," his lip curled.

Sansa giggled. "Well, I can set aside some of it and add more to that mix for you."

Tywin briefly smiled before it disappeared. "Thank you. Aside from that though, it's good. We'll have to remember the mix, so we can use it in the future."

Pleased, Sansa went for the steaks so she could start seasoning them, and then they were back to work, cooking quietly together and feeling rather at peace.

It was strangely harmonious in the kitchen with these two.

It made Sansa smile widely to herself. Who would've thought? Especially given her strange cooking partner. The Old Lion himself.

It was strange enough that he cooked, but stranger still that he was cooking with _her_ and for a _family dinner_. It was an even stranger thought that this had become a common staple for a few years now.

Then she heard him quietly humming to the Taylor Swift song playing in the background and nearly laughed aloud at the surreal situation she'd found herself in.

Tywin glanced at her and gave her a raised eyebrow, that was belied with a soft smirk. It was further compounded as he swept over to her, and took her hand, tugging her towards him and pulled her into a hold —leading into a dance in the middle of the kitchen.

" _Can I go where you go?  
_ _Can we always be this close forever and ever?  
_ _And ah, take me out, and take me home  
_ _You're my, my, my, my lover~"_

It was a thought to know that no one was actually privy to this side of Tywin Lannister.

* * *

Jaime yawned, but his scowl remained fixed on his face and his hands fumbled to tie the rope together, the sign he sloppily put together struggling to stay up and stay in the middle of the entrance to the kitchen.

Beside him, Tyrion nursed a cup of coffee before going over for a refill at the conveniently placed table of refreshments to the wall at the far end of the room.

"Why are you blocking the entrance to the kitchen?" Stannis, Robert's younger brother, asked him irritably.

Jaime looked over to him, refraining from yawning tiredly again. His scowl deepened (though he grumpily tried not to think of this guy and Sansa and _the library_ ).

"Yes, we'd like to procure some coffee," Roose Bolton said next, impassive face revealing nothing.

Jaime looked over to him next, remembering the rumor Bolton was more or less the Clegane brothers equivalence for the Starks. He doubted it. The Starks were too bloody honorable.

"Coffee, juice, and water is over there," he said blandly, pointing over to where his brother was, Tyrion grumbling under his breath to himself.

"Why are they there? What's wrong with the kitchen?" Stannis questioned, scowling at him.

Jaime huffed but Sansa's brothers were thankfully coming into the room.

"Ah, they're already in there, are they?" Robb directed to him and he nodded.

"They've already locked us out!" Tyrion shouted disgruntled. "Honestly! Father set all this out so we won't even need to come into the kitchen! And they're so damn domestic, it's disgusting!"

Jaime huffed again, knowing it was true. And they _were_ utterly domestic whenever they cooked together; it made him mentally pout like a child.

"Tywin did that, eh?" he heard Robert say next, the fat bastard stumbling into the room half asleep. "Tch, of course the kitchen is already off limits."

"What do you all mean? What's going on?" Bolton asked.

Thankfully, Jon took pity on the man and Jaime focused on tiredly finishing up his makeshift block. He was a good son. He could bloody help out somehow!

"You haven't been to the past gatherings, so you wouldn't know, but Mr. Lannister and Sansa usually take over the kitchen to cook Christmas Eve's dinner. No one in or out of the kitchen but them," Jon explained. "Though this is the first year that they're got refreshments set up outside of the kitchen."

"You mean we can't even use that excuse to go into the kitchen?" Robert asked in dismay, more awake now.

"To be fair, one or eventually all of us go in to try to sneak a taste," Robb pointed out in amusement.

"And I'm setting up this block so no one goes in and interrupts 'Father and Sansa's cooking time,'" Jaime even added the quotation marks, successfully finishing his block. "Besides, I don't want to be on the receiving end of their temper for disturbing them."

"You know…I don't actually know who's scarier —Father or Sansa," Tyrion said as he came back over with a new cuppa. "You and I both know that Father's temper is scary, but Sansa is surprisingly…"

"Terrifying," one of Bolton's kids said with a shiver, both of them entering into the room as well.

"Very true," Jon said with Robb nodding beside him.

"Remember that one time she lit Harry Hardyng's car on fire because —"

Whatever Robb was going to say was cut off as Sansa appeared in front of Jaime's block, glancing at him blankly, before holding out a stack of plates.

"Robb," she said and her brother quickly walked over and grabbed the plates. "Start setting up the table please."

"Yes," Robb said hurriedly and rushed off as fast as he could with his fragile cargo.

"Jon, utensils," she said and her other brother came closer while she briefly disappeared and reappeared with a bunch of them. Jon took a bunch, but there were still a lot so while he left with his stack, Sansa leveled a look at the Bolton boys, who both hurried over and quietly accepted their load and disappeared after the other boys.

Then she looked around the others left, before narrowing her eyes.

"I should hope that you all will steer clear of the kitchen. We're not done yet."

Then she turned her back on them and went back in.

"I CAN'T EVEN GO IN THERE TO PRETEND TO GRAB WINE!"

Tyrion shouted, glaring in the direction of the kitchen.

Everyone pointedly ignored the iced casket holding bottles of wine, Tyrion's name taped right on front of it.

* * *

She thought it could've gone worse. Really.

At least there hadn't been any fist fights.

Although, if she was being honest, that had been a really close call. She could've sworn Robb would've decked Joffrey one, and Cersei had actually moved to slap Robert before Jaime had hastily grabbed onto her and moved her away.

There was Robert's insistent claims that he was ' _Ned's only, real best friend_ ' and had pointedly looked at Roose at that. Thankfully, Roose took it in stride and just calmly dug into his food, only giving Robert one long cooled look.

And don't get her started on Ramsay's inappropriate remarks that made Shireen and Myrcella gasp and blush in shock, but also earned the fury of Stannis, Renly, and Jaime, and the darkest look from Roose she'd even seen.

Ramsay grabbed his plate, plied as much food as he could on it, and fled to his room.

She dearly hoped he locked it behind him before she herself came to knock him one upside the head.

A nudge from her right made her look over and see Tywin discreetly smirking at her.

"It could've been worse," he told her under his breath.

"Yeah?" she asked sarcastically.

"Could've been a food fight like last year."

She thought about that and cringed. Yeah, he was right about that.

In that case, she could be relieved that Christmas Eve dinner at the annual Stark-Baratheon-Lannister 'family' gathering wasn't a disaster.

* * *

Robb inhaled deeply, enjoying the smells of the food in front of him. As always, Sansa and Tywin had cooked up a delicious feast for everyone and he was looking forward to digging in, especially since he'd been unable to sneak in a taste like he had every year before.

What with the two cleverly providing refreshments outside of the kitchen, there was no way anyone could go inside the kitchen and feign needing something (only to be sampling the goods in reality).

Robb had had so many regrets earlier that day. So _many_.

But now everyone was seated and ready to eat, salivating to start Christmas Eve dinner for this bizarre collection of a 'family'.

"I am so glad and lucky to be the absolute best friend of yours, Ned," Robert said loudly, cutting into the ham. He stared solidly in the direction of Roose, who Robb was relieved to find his normal impassive self. "So very damn thankful to have you and your family as part of mine. And being your best friend for it."

Jon choked on his drink.

Thankfully Roose said nothing, despite the continued stare, while Robb's dad looked on uneasily, putting on a strained smile for Robert. His mother looked exasperated.

"It's not fucking Thanksgiving," Cersei scoffed, making Robert glare at her.

"Would you, for once, not be a black hole of darkness and despair?" Robert growled, making her bristle.

That…was actually a rather creative insult, Robb conceded. Though why were these two still married?

"Well now," Sansa interrupted cheerfully. "I hope everyone enjoys the food."

"Probably fucked it up and made it taste like shit," Joffrey spoke up with an ugly sneer. "You probably forced Grandfather to do all the work and was a bossy bitch in the kitchen."

It went absolutely silent at that moment, and Robb knew Joffrey knew he'd messed up as the entire table turned towards him with rather murderous eyes. Even Cersei, who spoiled and took her son's side always (though she had a weird fixation on Sansa, so that made things stilted on _those_ arguments), was focused on her headache she was muttering about (though it might be feigned, considering she'd opened her eyes to see the situation and then closed them again once she saw nothing had changed).

Sansa, his sweet sister, had ducked her head and averted her eyes to her empty plate, while Tywin (who had, as usual and as custom over the years, placed her on his right in a place of honor) looked absolutely furious at his grandson.

And, to Robb's confusion, he realized he'd had his arm pulled back and hand formed into a first, distantly thinking he was just about to deck Joffrey. Whoops, oh well.

He was just about to follow through with the motion when Jaime cut in.

"Joffrey, I suggest you get your food and leave the table," the blond man gritted his teeth, glaring at his nephew angrily.

Joffrey rushed to do as he was told.

"As your best friend, Ned," Robert started in again, casting a dark glance at Roose, who patiently said and did nothing in retaliation. "I'm sorry for my son's behavior. And to you, my sweet Sansa," he directed towards his goddaughter. "Never mind him! Doesn't know a thing about women! Not like me!" He started chortling loudly.

Cersei apparently had enough and had raised her hand to slap Robert, only for Jaime to be quicker and grab her arm in a panic, smoothly transitioning her into his old seat and sitting himself in Cersei's former one.

Everyone stared a moment before someone at the table coughed and someone else interrupted the awkward silence.

"Let's dig in!" Arya said enthusiastically, scooping up some of the soup into a bowl for herself.

That broke the tension and everyone began to finally get into the food.

"As Ned's only, real best friend," Robert cast a dark look at Roose, "I say what a talented young woman, your Sansa is!"

"Yeah, talented in all areas, including the bedroom," Ramsay cackled. "I mean, talented as she is, no way she's not," he winked at her, who just gave him a deadpan look back.

Robb gave him an askance glance, but he (as all the Stark siblings) knew Ramsay was raving mad and prone to being inappropriate whenever he wanted.

But then Shireen and Myrcella, the two of the youngest at the able, were blushing and gasping —and maybe there's a time and place for Ramsay's weird remarks, but it was really too late now.

Though Robert was half wheezing and glaring, torn between enjoying the bawdy humor and being overprotective of his goddaughter and his daughter's chaste ears, Renly, Jaime, and Stannis looked ready to storm over to Ramsay and teach him a lesson.

Roose was just scary though, and that was all Robb had to say on that.

Ramsay cleared his throat, realizing his position, and stood up abruptly. He, though, refused to leave without a crap ton of food, which he rapidly piled onto his plate, creating a mini-mountain before running away from the table.

After that, things finally calmed down and people began to fill their plates and eat in earnest. For a full handful of minutes, things were at peace.

Robb had even caught a small moment between Tywin and Sansa that he tilted his head at, before mentally shrugging and smiling to himself.

"Ned, I _am_ your real best friend, right —"

"For Seven's sakes, shut up!"

And Cersei reached across from her twin to toss her wine into Robert's face, who childishly retaliated by grabbing some of his mashed potatoes and smooshing it into her coiffed hair. Some of the wine and mash dripped onto Jaime's blank face, the poor man having been caught in the middle.

"Food fight!" Arya screamed in delight.

Robb grimaced. Not with his plate of wonderful, damn good food!

Started 1/7/20 – Completed 1/12/20 (2/9/20 edited with extra scene)

**Omake! IV**

"Stop cackling!"

"Says the one laughing like a madman!"

"Pfft, every lifetime, these people never get along. They might as well murder each other all over again."

" _We tried_."

"There is no fixing these people."

"Don't be exasperated —you know you love it. They're all insane and we're all entertained by it."

"Sansa's got a veritable army of suitors~"

"And Ramsay is kind of funny like this. Haha, this is the best version of him!"

"Hmm, though I'm surprised so little of them —what with a big group —can't contribute to the cooking."

"Oh, they've tried."

"Yes, apparently Cersei almost burnt down the entire kitchen, Jaime the stove, Tyrion drank and watched and made snarky comments the whole time."

"That's not counting how Renly volunteered and kept fussing about the appearance of the dishes to focus on actually cooking and the taste, while Robert had no finesse. Not bad on a grill though —er, well better at the marinating; Ned's the griller. Catelyn's good with organizing, but used to having meals cooked for her, so not much of a cook either. Arya ate more than she cooked, Bran just read out recipes, and Rickon wasn't helping at all and thought he was there to taste test everything."

"Rob and Jon weren't too bad though. They tried. Rob had potential with the cooking, if only because he could follow directions. Couldn't, for the life of him though, cook on his own. Not interested in it either —prefers to eat their food. Jon was a mess surprisingly. He got frazzled in the kitchen?"

"Sansa and Tywin are rather intimidating in the kitchen."

"Well said!"

Started 2/9/20 – Completed 2/9/20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second to last chapter! Almost done with this mini-ficlet~
> 
> Quick Points:
> 
> 1\. Current GoT Fics: Her Song of Fire and Ice (SansaxRoose/Stannis/Tywin), A Red King Bowed (Roose/Sansa), and March to My Heartbeat (Stannis/Sansa). Also Deck the Halls, to get started on that ‘verse~
> 
> 2\. Ramsay’s cracked in the head, no matter what ‘verse XD Just in a different way this time around lol.
> 
> 3\. Tyrion needs more coffee. Or finally drink some wine. Or just be allowed to go into the kitchen and snack on the food TySan is whipping up XD


	5. All I Want For Christmas is You (Sansa Baby)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Playlist:  
> When the Party's Over by Billie Eilish

Trying to relax now that the dinner was over and everyone had cleaned themselves up, Sansa was hoping to find some time to herself before everyone gathered at midnight to open presents (somehow waking in the morning to presents was old-fashioned). She walked along a silent hallway aimlessly, having no destination in mind.

"Sansa."

Roose's quiet voice made her pause and turn to look behind her, seeing the older man gazing at her solemnly. She smiled fondly and tilted her head in question.

"Roose? Something the matter?"

"May we talk?" he asked and while still confused, she nodded and came towards him.

He surprised her by taking hold of her hand, grasping it tight in his as he walked off towards an empty room. Inside, he turned towards her and she watched as his pale eyes, a marbled gray the likes she could remember comparing to the Pentelic marble graced from Mount Pentelicus, roved all over her face intently, gazing at her with bared emotion that was unlike him. He still hadn't let go of her hand.

Roose Bolton was not a man that showed his emotions freely and always kept others guessing at him.

But right now, all she could see was an almost naked desperation and a sweet tenderness she was taken aback to witness from him.

"Sansa, you have been someone I admit I have always admired and enjoyed being around," he actually admitted. "I know you have been content to let Robb lead on in the company and take a backseat to it, choosing to focus on other pursuits. But I…I would be more content…I would _prefer_ to work under you. I would be completely _devoted_ to you, I promise," he told her firmly, never taking his eyes off of hers.

Her breath hitched, but his last words held an underlying meaning that couldn't be mistaken, words he wouldn't (not now) openly confess to. Probably not even under the threat of death would he reveal such a thing, especially to her.

But for now, with _those_ words, it was as close as he could say to it.

It was even more damning with the way his face was so open to her, letting her in and speaking everything he couldn't say, in a way that he wasn't known to; not when he always looked closed off or insincerely polite, a blank or solemn face more natural to him.

Sansa squeezed his hand. "It's something to think about, Roose," she then looked out at the large windows in the room. "The stars are bright tonight. Let's watch them awhile."

She kept a tight hold on his hand and walked over, watching the stars and contemplating his words —spoken and not.

* * *

She didn't know how long it had been, while she and Roose stood together and gazed out the windows and up into the stars shining down on them. It was a clear night and the stars were, for once, clearly displayed amongst a dark blue backdrop. It was comfortable with Roose, even in the silence. But she had always been comfortable with him.

They were disturbed, however, when the door to the room opened abruptly and the two of them turned as one to look at the intruder. Stannis walked in quickly, before stopping in surprise at the sight of them. His normally scowling face fluttered with the surprise before his normal scowl returned, though yet an air of awkwardness settled. But noise down the hall had him scowling harder and she exchanged a look with Roose.

Roose's eyes narrowed but then an eyebrow raised, the two of them easily communicating without words, and then she was turning back to Stannis with an easy grin.

"Come on in; we were just enjoying the silence in here and a blissful escape of the chaos back there," she invited playfully as her grin widened, more so when he easily closed the door behind him and went in.

Looks like he was very determined to run away from the 'crowd'. Though with Robert and Renly's incessant needling of him probably hadn't hurt, and she was starting to see a bit where the brothers _were_ woefully wrong when it came to Stannis.

"Thank you," Stannis said in quiet relief. "It is rather…"

"Chaotic out there," Roose supplied, his hard to read face back on.

Stannis gave a stiff nod and awkwardness seemed to set in inside the room again, making Sansa sigh. She looked at the other two, noting Roose leaning lax against the window and back to staring outside, while Stannis seemed to be tensed as he stood in the middle of the room. A shame —she missed and rather enjoyed the relaxed version of him that she'd met in the library.

"So I danced with Roose earlier, but I never got to dance with you," she continued to be playful, determined to set Stannis at ease and loosen up.

For a moment, she actually witnessed Stannis' face become panicked and shocked, his scowl lifting to become slightly parted uncertainly. But she lifted her chin in challenge and held out her hand, and after another pause, Stannis came over and placed his larger one on hers.

If he took over and pulled her in closer for a small waltz around the room, with Roose watching quietly, then well Christmas had always been strange for her and family, extended and all.

* * *

It was a strange atmosphere she found herself stuck in, but she found it wasn't horrible and it was much better than the hubbub of the rest of their family back in the main living room. The two men were talking quietly and surprisingly getting along, and while she wasn't paying attention, she let their voices soothe her as she gazed through the window and hum to herself.

What a peaceful time it actually turned out to be! Even after everything, she had found time to enjoy Christmas Eve with a relaxed contentedness that she hadn't expected to have this year, not when every year had promised that it would be as troublesome as the past.

That's why, when the door opened once more, she felt trepidation at who would interrupt their peaceful mood. To her relief, it was only Tywin, whose feline-like eyes quickly moved over the tiny group, before entering and closing the door behind him.

To her delight, he held up a plate of lemon cake and he smiled lightly at her obvious reaction.

"I believe," his voice rumbled familiarly, "after our hard work in the kitchen today, a reward is in order."

"And _that_ is why you're my favorite Lannister," she said blissfully, accepting the fork from him.

"And I dearly hope I may brag about that to my sons later," he said, just a tinged smug.

"Mmm," was all she answered, already digging in.

He held out a hand expectantly and she just dug the fork in and held it out to him. He made a light scoffing noise, but he did lean in to accept the forkful. She took another forkful for herself before she offered a bite to Roose.

He gave her a look but relented when she kept grinning like a lunatic at him. And when she did the same to Stannis, he awkwardly leaned in and accepted his own forkful.

"This really did turn out to be a nice Christmas break from the norm," she relaxed with them.

"WHERE THE HELL IS STANNIS?"

" _Sansa, please save me from this madness! Where are you?_ "

"The hell did Dad disappear? I don't want to be alone with you, Ramsay!"

"Oh my Gods, why did Father take off and leave me with you animals!"

At Cersei's screech, all of them flinched and collectively sighed.

"Please, _please_ don't let them find this room."

Sansa really loved her family, extended ones included.

She could just do without them sometimes.

Started 1/12/20 – Completed 1/12/20

**Omake! V**

"What a chaotic family."

"We _did_ decide to shuffle all of Westoros' greatest Houses into one huge family."

"One fucked up family."

"Language!"

"It's true! Besides, they were always meant to become like this, especially with Sansa as a bridge."

"That's true too. They'll all just have to deal."

"You know, I would like Sansa to feed _me_ some of her lemon cake."

"I second that."

"Me too~"

"On that point though…if serving her a lemon cake was all that it takes to become the favorite Lannister, Tywin should've gifted her one a long time ago to entice her into becoming part of the family. He should've been like 'Here, Lady Sansa, have a lemon cake. Marry Tyrion, marry any Lannister and I'll buy you all the lemon cakes you want! Just become a Lannister and stay here in King's Landing! Be my Key to the North!'"

"Hah! He should've used all of that bloody gold he had and boasted about to buy a litter filled with lemon cakes and send it straight to Winterfell to persuade her to come to King's Landing in the first place!"

"Hindsight, hindsight. At least Tywin knows better now."

"Lemon cakes are the key to Sansa Stark's heart!"

Started 2/9/20 – Completed 2/9/20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, the end! Short and sweet~ Hope you guys enjoyed this itty bitty thing, next up is a one-shot in ‘verse for New Year’s, and finally I’ll work on Valentine’s for you all :D
> 
> Quick Points:
> 
> 1\. Current GoT Fics: Her Song of Fire and Ice (SansaxRoose/Stannis/Tywin), A Red King Bowed (Roose/Sansa), and March to My Heartbeat (Stannis/Sansa). Also Deck the Halls, to get started on that ‘verse~
> 
> 2\. Closed it with our three guys, y’all.
> 
> 3\. You know Tywin should’ve just bribed Sansa with all the lemon cakes she’d want, to get her to marry into his family and stay in King’s Landing XD


End file.
